After the Fall
by NZfulla
Summary: A series of Skimmons one-shots, some might be AU but I don't know... these things tend to write themselves. Give it a try and let me know what you think :D My first AoS entry, and my first series of one-shots but not my first ever story... hope you guys enjoy! Rating may be subject to change, and the story name too so keep a look out! I welcome suggestions :P


**I just wanted to say although it isn't my first fanfic, it will be my first fanfic for AoS, and for Skimmons but hopefully all goes according to plan :) so let's get on with it! Hopefully the characters aren't OOC or anything... if they are let me know! I love feedback :D It gets a bit dramatic and slightly cheesy, which wasn't my intention but what can you do? Stories right themselves haha. This one is set just after Simmons jumps out of the BUS after the chitauri virus incident.**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING AT ALL. Sadly :'(**

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It had been a week, no less than seven days since the 'incident', or at least thats what Agent Coulson liked to call it.

The rest of the team, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, didn't like to call it anything. In fact they didn't like to bring it up in conversation at all. And nobody disliked it being brought up more than Agent Jemma Simmons.

The 'incident' of course being the jump. Her selfless act of intending to sacrifice her own life to save the lives of others. Even though in the end, everything turned out alright.

If you can call jumping out of a plane thinking a virus you contracted would cause you to explode with electrical energy, only to be rescued and given an anti-serum by Agent Grant Ward, 'alright'.

She liked to pretend that had it never happened, and when questioned would always wave it off with an 'I'm fine' or an 'I promise it's okay'. And after a few days, everyone began to believe her, even Fitz eventually stopped worrying. Everyone except Skye that is.

The hacker constantly found herself staring at her, watching, waiting for some sign that the scientist wasn't as 'fine' as she claimed she was.

On the surface there was nothing wrong, Simmons was still joking about and doing her 'I'm Agent Grant Ward...' impression behind his back, still arguing with Fitz in the lab about the name of the 'night-night' gun, and still geeking out about all things sciency.

Everything seemed completely normal. Which is why Skye was worried. She knew that you can't just throw yourself out of a plane intent on killing yourself and then come back and just be perfectly fine and normal. It wasn't just improbable, it was impossible.

It had been a week of watching, and bordering on stalking, Simmons and the hacker had found nothing. Nothing at all.

Skye sits up in her bunk and lets out a groan.

_I'm over-thinking this whole thing... _She thought to herself. _Simmonds is a S.H.I.E.L.D agent... maybe she is really fine. She probably has dealt with this sort of thing before, and nobody else seems to worry any more._

Skye sighs to herself. _I don't know why I'm so worried anyway, it's just Simmonds. Sure she's my friend but... I've never been this concerned about a friend this much before._

Suddenly a grumbling sound can be heard from the Hackers stomach, interrupting her train of thought.

_Great, I'm hungry. Another thing to think about..._

She glances at the clock beside her bed with a sigh. The numbers read 1:43am in an obnoxiously red glow.

"I mean... I guess it's not midnight but, I _really_ need a snack." Skye muses quietly out loud.

She silently slides the door to her pod open and checks both ways down the corridor to make sure nobody else is awake. Not that she should need to explain herself getting a sandwich, but she's just not in the mood to face a still angry Ward or anybody else.

Seeing nobody, the hacker stealthily creeps down the hallway and navigates her way to the kitchen. Less than five minutes later she is fixing herself a rather delicious looking sandwich.

A sound causes her to freeze in her movements just as she was putting the finishing touches on her snack.

A slightly muffled, but very distinctly _English_ voice coming from the direction of the labs. A female voice to be precise. And the only English female she knew aboard the BUS was...

"Jemma." Skye whispers to herself, before hurriedly collecting her sandwich and heading towards to origins of the voice. As she creeps closer, the hacker begins to pick up on some of the individual words.

"Bloody Hell... not good, not good at all..." Simmons grumbles just as Skye rounds the corner and sees the scientist crouched on the floor.

The hacker can see Simmons through the window, apparently and tentatively picking up what appears to be glass off the floor.

"Jemma? Are you alright?" Skye asks opening the doors to the lab and stepping inside.

"What? Skye?" Jemma stands up and turns to face the hacker, in confusion.

"Why are you... Uh... I mean..." Jemma clears her throat and attempts to casually lean on the bench. "What brings you here? Not here, on the plane... I know that obviously... I mean, uh... What brings you... _here_? To my lab? At this time of the night?"

Skye raises an eyebrow and waves her sandwich a bit. "I was hungry, and heard you on my way back from the kitchen."

"I could also ask you the same question, Agent Simmons." Skye places the sandwich on a nearby bench to fold her arms. "What are _you _doing here, in your lab, at this time of the night?"

"Oh, uh..." The british scientist pauses for a moment, taken aback. Before obviously searching for a way to avoid the question. "Well... What do you mean by this time of the night?"

"It's almost 2am Jemma." Skye frowns slightly in concern. "Why are you still up?"

"...2am?.. Reeeeeally..." She says again avoiding the question, before nervously smiling. "Wow, I didn't even notice. Time flies right?"

"Jemma please..." Skye pleads with her eyes stepping forward. "What are you doing? Why are you still up?"

"Research." The scientist blurts, before frowning trying to think of a way to follow up that statement. "Time just... got away from me. I swear."

The hacker knows that this was not the whole truth, but after a moment of staring down the English woman in suspicion she lets out a relenting sigh.

"What sort of research?" Skye asks letting curiosity get the better of her as she leans against the nearby bench.

"Oh you know... just, general stuff..." Jemma answers vaguely, before remembering the glass on the floor and crouching again to pick it all up.

"General stuff, huh?" Skye repeats unbelievingly, but not wanting to push it. "So, what happened there?"

"I just... ah, dropped a flask is all." Jemma says sweeping the bits and pieces into her hand.

"You know, this general vagueness isn't working well to convince me you aren't up to anything." Skye quirks an eyebrow at the scientist who pauses, and lets out a sigh.

"Fine, okay... I'm just... studying that Chitauri virus..." Jemma trails off with a weak laugh. Skye though, immediately stiffens.

"You're what? Seriously? The virus that almost kil-..." Skye isn't even able to finish the sentence, as she places her fingers on her temple. "...Y-your being careful though right?.."

"Of course I am Skye, I've..." Simmons turns suddenly to stare at the hacker. "I've learnt from my mistakes. I just..."

A look of understanding passes over Skye's face.

"You just want to know more..." The hacker finishes, and the scientist nods in agreement.

"I'm being careful, I assure you. I just, knocked an empty flask off the table. There's no chance of contamination at all so..." Simmons sighs, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"You never answered my question about why you're up so late though." Skye reminds her. The English scientist just turns and resumes picking up the glass silently, but the hacker notices her trembling hands.

_Finally. _Skye thinks to herself. _A sign..._

"Want some help with that?" Skye asks, moving forward and helping to pick up the last of the fragments on the ground without waiting for an answer.

Up close, Skye can finally see the details she'd glossed over in her original assessment. The dark rings around the scientist's eyes, the weary look in her eyes and the now obvious tremble in her hands.

"You haven't been sleeping have you?" Skye realizes, but theres is no reply from Simmons, who just continues to silently clean up her mess.

Surprising herself, Skye finds herself taking the girl's hand and squeezing it lightly. To the hacker's surprise, Simmons squeezes back and stops cleaning in a sign of acknowledgement.

With her free hand, Skye finishes picking up the pieces and places them gently in a nearby safety hazard bin.

The silence is soon interrupted by the grumble of a stomach, but this time it's not Skye's.

"You haven't been eating either?" Skye asked softly, and this time Simmons shook her head slightly with a weak smile.

"Haven't been feeling particularly peckish, no." Simmons replies, to which Skye determinedly grabs her sandwich off the nearby desk and sits down, before offering it to the scientist.

"Well, I'm no Doctor, but I don't need a PhD to tell me that when a person is hungry they need to eat." Skye smiles, and despite protests pushes the sandwich into Jemma's hands.

Simmons roles her eyes slightly, but takes a bite of the sandwich anyway. Her eyes widen slightly as she chews, and then visibly smiles as she swallows.

"My word, this is a fantastic sandwich." She gasps, as Skye just grins.

"Why thank you kind lady." She chuckles, and Simmons pouts a bit before offering some to the now grinning Skye. "Are you sure you don't want a bit? Considering you went out of your way to make it and now I'm going to steal it all."

"No, no you have it. It's much more entertaining to watch your facial expressions than eat it myself." Skye just laughs.

"Well, if you insist..." Simmons takes back the sandwich and greedily begins to devour it.

"Woah, woah. Don't choke now." Skye laughs, as the sandwich grows smaller and smaller with every bite from the determined scientist. "You only just survived almost dying recently, and I really don't want it to happen again."

Simmons froze, and Skye realized with a jolt what she'd just brought up again. Quickly noting the scientist's body language and reacting quicker than her brain had time to process she wrapped her arms around Jemma again, just like she had a week ago.

And in that moment, in Skye's arms, the scientist finally breaks down.

"Alright, I'm not okay... I can't sleep without dreaming about it." Simmons tears up slightly as she leans into Skye. "Jumping, and falling. Always falling but theres no Grant to save me in my dreams."

"I haven't slept in days, because every time I close my eyes I can see it, and I can feel it." Simmons confesses as she sniffles, tears running down her cheeks.

"Jemma..." Skye whispers quietly as she consoles the usually somewhat well put together scientist. "You don't have to see it, and you don't have to feel it..."

"Next time you see yourself falling, or dream. just... think of someone who you know would come rescue you, no matter what the situation. And picture them beside you." Skye suggests, trying to think of the right thing to say. "It doesn't have to be Ward... maybe Fitz?"

She's never experienced near death and has no personal experience to offer, but she is just trying to tell the girl what she herself thinks she'd want or needs to hear in a similar situation.

"No, not Fitz." Jemma smiles slightly. "I love him like a brother, but... I can't see him being able to rescue me all the time..."

"...You, Skye, on the other hand..." Jemma looks up at Skye's slightly surprised face. "You're someone who I know would always come rescue me."

"Come sleep with me." Simmons says a small smile on her face, but a determined look in her eyes. Well, determined looking before they widen in realization of what she'd just said.

"Wait! No! That isn't what I meant..." Simmons cringes into her hands before hearing Skye giggle, and at that moment the scientist decided that it was her favourite sound in the world.

Jemma had buried her feelings for the hacker deep down as soon as she'd became aware of them, but in such a tender moment they'd begun to surface once again without her being able to do anything about it, and it seemed that it was going to stay that way.

"So you want me to sleep with you, huh Jemma?" Skye smirks. "Is that how it is?"

"No... well... I mean, I..." Jemma stumbles on her words with a red face and Skye smirks. "...I _may_ have... briefly... thought about that a few times... but thats not what I mean now!"

"Oh so you've thought about it?" The hacker's grin only grows, as Jemma's blush deepens.

_She really is too cute when she's flustered. _Skye thinks to herself.

"I'm kidding Jemma." Skye smiles at the adorable pout on the scientist's face.

A few seconds later, Skye stands up off the floor from where they'd been sitting, and offers Jemma her hand.

"Come on then." Skye smiles, helping Jemma up off the floor. "If it's me you want beside you then who am I to object."

Skye also had been conflicted about her feelings, but in the moment they'd just shared together she felt that everything was clearing up.

Her concern for the scientists well being was not just because they were friends, but because she'd wanted to be maybe more than that.

They walk together now in relative silence, but since Skye's offering to Jemma of a hand up, neither of them have let go of the other's hand.

They end up walking straight past the door to Skye's pod, which is still open from when she'd gotten up, and going straight to Jemma's pod. Where Jemma curls up in Skye's arms and they both finally manage to get a good nights sleep.

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**I have absolutely no idea how I feel about this... but I'm counting on you guys to give me feedback so I can make up my mind :) I love to hear from my readers! I especially love reviews (hint hint) but I also love PMs too! :P Tell me what you think, and if you like it I may add another chapter if you guys want. But you have to let me know.**


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